The Adventures Of Riku kun And Candace chan
by Mangsy
Summary: When the Heartless escape from behind the door, it's up to Riku and his newly aquired sidekick, Candace chan to collect the six treasures of Ansem and put the Heartless away forever! What madness will befall the duo? [for the wonderful astaldotholwen, enj
1. Prologue

_All his life, Riku thought it would come down to something more meaningful._

_He was wrong._

_His life had come down to two things, two memories, two significant points._

_The day the door closed. And the day it opened._

_Since the day the door closed, everything had become unimportant, irrelevant to what he had to do. Time disappeared, a mere remnant of the life he once had. _

_There was no time in the dark._

_There wasn't life, only death, because there was no reason to celebrate a life he didn't have. Death was celebrated, death of the heartless that plagued his home. _

_It sickened him to think that this was what this place had become. Home. Home wasn't dark, home wasn't full of the stench of death, the fear of waking up and realizing this was all that was left for him. Home was a pin prick of a memory. Of light and sand and people and an emotion he couldn't remember. _

_Now there was just him, the king, and the heartless._

_Until the day the door opened._

_And light was no longer a memory._


	2. Chapter 1

"Do you understand Riku?"

The silver haired bishounen was slow to realize that he was being addressed. It had been a long time since he had been called that, Riku. It had been a long time since he had someone to talk to. His life had been filled with the murder of the black devils that were the source of his imprisonment, his sacrifice. Now he was being busied with questions of the dark world, royal affairs, and a new mission.

"Could you explain it again, Sir," Riku asked the King, politely excusing himself for zoning out.

"The Heartless have escaped," King Mickey explained, "After the years that we were imprisoned behind the door, they have become much smarter than we expected. They discovered a way to open the door, and let us out in the process. Now they have flooded the worlds that have since become connected after we shut them out—"

"So we hunt them down and get rid of them. Again," he interrupted, "nothing new,"

"That would seem to the case, wouldn't it?" The King said, "But they are no longer the brutal, heart-devouring machines we know them as. No, now they hunt by seeking hosts, and slowly taking over populated worlds. Starting with the smallest, we predict that they will consume the amount of worlds that they originally had in a much shorter amount of time."

Riku didn't speak for a moment. All he could think about was a certain _small_ world that had been haunting his dreams since they had escaped from behind the door. Would it be consumed by darkness once again? Did it even exist anymore? Had they survived…

"Riku, am I losing you?" the King inquired as he noticed the boy slipping out of reality again. He was afraid this would happen. After being in the dark so long, a massive dose of light would allow for memories to come back to him at an alarming rate. Mickey knew how far the boy had went for the one named Kairi, and he knew that he would want to see the special princess after being released from his prison. But there were more important things at hand, and Riku held the Key.

"Riku, this is very important," the King urged. Riku snapped back into reality, but his eyes were still clouded with a fear for his old friends, "Do you understand?"

"What am I supposed to do about it?" Riku said, almost bitterly, "I couldn't stop them the first time, what gives you the idea I'm any better off stopping them now?"

"You hold the Key," Mickey explained, "you hold the Key to the worlds."

"What Key to the worlds? Sora has the keyblade. I have nothing, go find him,"

"Sora is not the boy we are looking for," Mickey never lost his patience, and it was good. For a normal person who was not a mouse and not a King, he would have let his temper get the best of him. But the King stayed calm in spite of the boy's attitude and continued, "Sora is the Knight of Light, you," he paused, making sure that the boy was indeed with him, "You are the Knight of Dark," that got his attention, "And it is because of this, that the heartless will not recognize you."

"Since you have spent so much time around these vile beings, you have become immune to their effects. You will move through the worlds undetected. You will collect the six treasures of Ansem."

"I thought Ansem was evil," Riku cut in, "You know, with the whole 'using me to lore Sora and take over with the heartless' thing," his tone was obviously bitter. This was one memory he did not enjoy, "Why do we want his treasures."

Mickey adjusted his crown; "Ansem was not always as dark and sinister as you know him. He was once an educated, sophisticated man who held knowledge of the impending heartless armies," this was true. Ansem had once been a good friend of Mickey's before his heart was consumed by darkness, "Before the armies came, he created the six treasures that would unlock another door. One that would pull the heartless into an unending void, ridding the worlds of them forever."

"He put his door in a very secret place, and spread the treasures among the worlds. He then hid the information about this door and the treasures somewhere where he would never find it,"

"And you know where it is, I suppose?"

"No," Mickey replied, "No one does,"

"Then what's the point of even trying?" Riku exclaimed, suddenly angered by the conversation. The heartless were unstoppable. He thought he had them contained, and they break out and cause mayhem. Why was he always the one to stop it? And now, now they didn't even _know_ where this so-called door was. Sometimes he believed there was a fate out there that didn't want him to be happy.

"To get to the door, you must find the six treasures," Mickey explained, "They will show you the door."

"And where are the treasures?" Riku asked, rather darkly, "Are they hidden too?"

"No, we know where the first one is," he assured the boy, "she will lead you to the rest."

"She?" In his heart, Riku hoped this 'she' was Kairi. Surely if the girl he once knew was a princess of heart, she could be the one to lead him to Ansem's door.

"Yes," answered Mickey, "She. She has the first treasure, the secret volume of Ansem. She will be the one to lead you to the treasures, and then, to the door."

Riku sighed and looked up at the King. He sat there, so calm, and so…well, not happy. Content. How he could sit there without any trace of obvious worry was beyond Riku. How he could be so at ease, while Riku boiled in his own self-pity and anger. This was the man that saved him from the heartless countless times, who wanted only for the worlds to be safe. And now he was questioning his loyalties because he wanted to see the girl he didn't even know was alive. Anyone would jump for a chance to save the world a second time. Sora would jump for a chance to save the world a second time.

That thought made up his mind.

"Where is she?" he asked the King, standing up, now determined.

"She is on the Island of Timh Ortons," Mickey smiled. The boy wouldn't let him down, "we have a Gummi Ship waiting for you." The King rose from his throne, and led the boy down the hall and into the launching room.

"When I find this girl," Riku asked, "Will she know who I am?"

"Sadly, no," Mickey replied, "You will have to explain all of this to her. It might be hard to persuade her to come with you," he smiled, "she's a little wild, so keep an eye on her."

"Will do," Riku said as he climbed into the Gummi Ship.

"One last thing," Mickey called to one of his servants. They brought over a small cage looking thing with a black cloth draped over it.

"What's this?" Riku asked curiously as he took the cage from the little man. He pulled off the black cloth…

…and immediately regretted doing so.

Out of nowhere or apparently from underneath the cloth a little gray bunny-type creature jumped onto his head with a pronounced 'boing'.

"Ah! Get it off!"

"Mabby! Mabby!" the creature chirped, happy to be atop his head. Riku, however, was not pleased.

Mickey was amused by the spectacle, and chuckled as he explained, "This is Maboka. He will allow you to communicate with us while you are in the different worlds."

"Must it be so, so hyper?" Riku exclaimed as he attempted to tear the thing from his head without ripping any of his precious silver hairs. It reminded him much of a certain yellow-dressed girl from Destiny Island, and this perturbed him greatly.

"You two will get along just fine," Mickey assured him, still laughing, "Good luck on your journey, Riku,"

And with that, the Gummi ship began to rise. Moboka had settled into Riku's lap, excited for his new adventure.

"Wait, King Mickey!" Riku called, suddenly realize what he didn't know, "The girl! What is her name?"

"Her name," the King replied, "Is Candace."


	3. Chapter 2

The Island or islands of Timh Ortons was a relatively unknown one. Of course, anybody who was anybody knew exactly where those cream filled sweets came from. They came from Timh Ortons, and its hard working inhabitants.

This world was very different from the others. Since the so-called defeat of the Heartless, the worlds had been connected, and people had began to use Gummi Ships as a regular mode of transportation. The island's trade was often used as an example for the word 'slavery'. Day in and day out the workers worked tirelessly, dealing with cranky customers. Demanding masters, and equally stressed coworkers. They were paid next to nothing. Room and board, and that was it. Then, after a long day by the soup vats and timbit-powdering-machines, they would retire to the smaller islands where they lived.

"Yo! Candace-chan, wait up!" the blonde beauty in question turned around to find the boy she commonly referred to as 'the Wank-Job' coming up to the docks where the small boats waited for them, "I'll ride with you."

Candace was hesitant at first, but she'd never pass up on a chance spend time alone with the boy. Not that she had much of a choice, anyways. Before she even got a chance to answer, he had climbed into the boat, and was untying it from the dock.

She sighed.

"Long day at work, eh?" he asked.

"You're telling me," she replied as their little boat began to float its way automatically to the island, as if pulled by an underwater rope, "Master is such a wench. She made me do the soup vats for four hours. I must have gotten a sunburn!"

"Ah, don't worry about it, Candace-chan," he laughed, "Maybe then you won't be so pale! Like a ghost!"

Candace glowered at him, and wondered how in the world she could find this boy the least bit attractive. She promptly bopped him on the head with her fist.

"Oww, what was that for?"

"What do you think, Wank-job?" she shot, "It's not my fault I'm so white!"

He stared at her for a moment, as if thinking. Although Candace knew that couldn't be what he was doing. One required a certain amount of brain cells to think, and she was positive that number was at least three times the amount that he had Then, suddenly, he reached across the boat and gave her a mighty shove. Caught off guard, she toppled backwards, and flew into the water with a mighty splash.

"DAVE!" she screamed, but it came out as a gurgle-type sound. Not that he could have heard it; he was too busy laughing his ass off. She splashed around in the water, trying to grab onto the boat as it continued to float towards the island.

Miserable, she managed to pull herself back into the craft and sat down on her seat, dripping wet.

The Wank-Job wiped a tear out of his eye and looked at her, "Oh man, you should see yourself! You look like a—"

"Drowned rat, I know, I know," she huffed. This wasn't the first time it had happened, and every time it did, she was always a drowned rat.

Regardless, she was more than regreting her decision to let him in the boat in the first place. She really, _really_ wanted to push him out of the boat, but he would probably just pull her in with him. Wouldn't _that_ be fun. So she settled on sitting perfectly still, as far away from as she could get, staring towards the island.

"Oh, Candace-chan, I'm sorry," he apologized, and moved to her side of the boat, "It's just…you're so cute when you're wet!" he pinched her cheek and she glared.

Fortunately, they had reached the island, and she immediately bolted from the boat towards her residence.

"See you tomorrow, Candace-chan!" he called from behind her.

Once she was safely inside, she made sure that none of her roommates were home, and began to peel her sticky wet uniform off. It was going to be dreadful the next morning, getting it dry. She knew it would still be mildly damp by the next day, and since she only had one, she'd have to wear it. She gave a frustrated groan and stomped up the stairs to her room to find some dry clothes.

Once she was dressed and had her uniform drying outside on the clothesline, she went to find her secret stash. She listened carefully for any sign of her roommates. After finding that they still weren't home, she went into her closet.

Her fingers felt along the creases of wood that made up the floor until she came to the loose floorboard. Under it was where she kept her worldly possessions. A locket, a CD, her diary, and of course…

**Her stash of manga.**

Manga was a forbidden luxury on the Islands of Timh Ortons. They told stories of far away places, where people were happy, and girls rode on wands. Where dreams came true, and love prevailed. The Timh Ortons Gods didn't like their workers consuming their precious time with such wistful thoughts, so the volumes were banned years ago.

But there was always the underground.

Manga, of course, could not be produced on Timh Ortons. But every third Thursday of the month was Delivery Day. This was when the materials for the sweets they made were brought in. Coffee beans and lemon sauce, bread dough and the like. They came on big, transport truck-like Gummi Ships. The workers would carry the many boxes into their working stations, and empty the contents there. And sometimes, the people who brought the coffee beans and lemon sauce smuggled manga in for the poor workers.

Candace-chan, although she wouldn't like to admit it, was addicted to this manga. She loved to stay up late at night, when her roommates who were all good Timh Ortons drones were asleep and read them under her covers. Over and over again, she would flip through the worn pages, letting the tales flash in front of her eyes.

And tomorrow was Delivery Day. She had asked for the fifth volume of the manga called Tsubasa from the cute delivery boy. He promised he would get it for her, so she wanted to catch up on the story.

Locking her door securely, she closed her window and curled up in her bed with the book. She sighed as she threw herself into the story, wishing that she were Sakura, and her knight in shining armour would come save her from this wretched place.

Candace fell asleep that night, manga hugged tightly to her chest, and her dreams filled with a silver haired prince that she knew, when she woke up, she would never meet. She dreamt often of this boy, but managed not to think much of it when she awoke.

And it was always like that. Until that night when she awoke to a bright light outside her window…


End file.
